Direction signal



April 15, 1924. 7 A 1,490,661

G. L. COFFMAN DIRECTION SIGNAL Filed June 23, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 15, 1924. 1,490,661

G. L. COFFMAN A DIRECTION SIGNAL Filed June 25; 1922 2 sheets-sheet? aye. I0 52 0 7 l 4 I 47 I. '.I v 6 3 I 11v VEN TOR M M eLCo man.-

A'TTORNEY Patented Apr. 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES 1,490,661 Parent QFFICE,

GEORGE L. COFFMAN, or KANSAS cI'rY, MISSOURI; AssIGNO -OF Two-reruns T0 F. X. BUSCH AND 0. L. census, BOTH or WICHITA, Kansas.

DIRECTION SIGNAL.

Application filed June 23, 1922. Serial-N0. 570,377.

1 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. COFFMAN,-

a citizenof theUnited States, residing at Kansas City, in the countyof Jackson State of Missouri, haveinvented :certain;

new and useful-Improvements in Direction Signals; and I do declare the following to Thisinvention relates-to aldire'ction signal for vehicles, and more particularly to; a signal adapted for attachment. to the frame of'an automobile, and comprising a semaphore arm whereby the direction in which the vehicle is about to turn or awarning" thatthe vehicle is about tostop may be in dicated by selective positioningbf the It? isthe principalfobject of the invention to provide asignal having: thesechar-i acteristics which may be easily applied to V the frame of any ordinary vehicle and may be easily and accurately controlled from a position adjacent the steeringfinecha-nism of the vehicle.

The inventionalso comprises' means for illuminating the semaphore arm when the-latter is in signaling position.

In; accomplishing the-abov eand other 'objectsijof the invention hereinafter mentioned v I a have provided improved ,detailsjof strue:

ture hereinafter; described; and illustrated g M I u a rotatable pin 21,. to the forward end of i-nthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

1 is aperspectivevlew of a direction signal embodying my lmprovementaaf part of the housing being broken away and the winding jmechanism being in section.-'

Fig. 3-is'a' vertical section; on the line 33, Fig. 2, showing the signal in housed the hearing; so that by a pull on the cable or non-functional position.

4 is a vertical section of the control- Fig. 5'is a similar view on theli'ne'55,i

Fig. 6. I

Fig. 6 isatransverse section of the con-- trol bozr on the hush- 6,: Figs. and 5:

Referring more. in detail to the drawings:

housingniay be mounted on the frame ofa vehicle by screwsor the like (not shown) prmected through the apertures 2 in the; base oof the bracket. The bracket 1 has ahead 3 to whiclris pivotally mounted an anglebar 4L, preferably by means of a bolt 5, sothat the anglebar may move on a horizontal'a-XistO,Provide vertical adjustment of the signalhousing; From the upper horizontal afmfifofthe angle bar is suspended an arm [7 forming a part'ofthe signal housmg and comprisinga disk 8 that is pivotally attached-tofthe angle bararm by a bolt 9 sotha-t the housing may havehorizontal adjustmentrelative to the vehicle. The' arm 7 s preferably integral with a ring 10 forming the-frameof the signal housing and having annular; shoulders 11 and 12, against vsihich the; housing body members '13 and'l i a ut. i

The housing body 13 is preferably formed of sheet metal and; extendsfforwardly from the rim, the front end ofthe housing member carrying a lens 15 and containinga light bulb l6 andatreflector 1'Z,to= adapt: the de-' vice for use. as a spotlight; The rear housingsmember lfi carries'a mirror 18in which the. driver of the vehicle may observe traf fic to the rear;

' The ring 10 has a slot" 19 extending from its. outer side through the bottom and. toabout the horizontal center, through which, the semaphore arm'inay travel, as hereafter described. i H

Adjacent the outer side of the ring and at the rear of theslotis a boss-2.0, carrying which is fixed a bracket 22', to which the semaphorea'rm'is' rigidly attached; u

Fixedto' therear .endof. the pin 21 is a drum 23 having a} peripheral groove 24E,

(it) i within which." is fixed a cable.25.. Located within the rim of drum and attached thereto is a spring 26 that is wound on the bearinglO within which the pin 21 rotates,

the inner end of the: spring being fixed to a the pin is rotated-and the spring tensioned;

An arcuate extension 20 on the boss 20' surrounds the: o-utenportion of the drum and servesftoguidea the cable and confine it a dental release of the flexible cable.

hicle adjacent the drivers position, and is run through an aperture in the housing to the interior thereof, where it is connected with a winding drum 29.

The drum 29 is fixed on a shaft 30 rotatable in the wall of the housing and provided at the exterior of the housing with a hand wheel 31 having a crank handle 32. The drum 29 has a peripheral groove 29 receiving the cable so that when the hand wheel is operated the cable is wound on the drum to retract the semaphore arm and tension the operating spring. The tendency ofthe spring is to extend the semaphore arm to signal position when the cable is released.

To hold the arm against this tendency I provide winding drum 29, with a socket 33 adapted for receiving an anchoring lug 34 on a spring plate 35 attaeh'ed'to the control housing 28 and extending along the face of the winding drum, the spring in the plate being sufficient to project the lug into the drum socket under normal conditions, so that-after each operation the drum may be revolved with the lug wiping its socketed face until the socket reaches the lug position, when the lug is automatically projected into the socket to relock the signal arm. To insure return of the plate I preferably provide an auxiliary spring 35 which is attached to the signal housing cover 56 and bears yieldingly against the plate ('Fig. 6).

Signals of this type'are adapted for imparting information to'pedestrians' and occupants of other vehicles through selective positioning of the signal. One recognized code is that whereby positioning of the arm at an upward angle indicates a right-hand turn; positioning of the signal at a downward angle a left hand turn; and positioning of the signal in a horizontal plane mat cates that the signaling vehicle is about to stop. a

a To control this selectivepositioning of the signall'provide a series of keys on the control box, forming stops for limiting travel of the winding drum and the inci- These keys are here shown to be three in number, and located in an arc of a circle, having the winding drum shaft 80 as a center.

Each of the keys comprises a cylindrical button 36 slidably mounted in an aperture in the rearhousing plate, and a shank 37 of less diameter than the button. At the end of the shank is a'tip 38 that extends through an aperture 39 in the spring plate so that when the button is pressed inwardly it flexes the plateand removes-the lug 84 from the socket in the winding drum to release the drum. 5;

V'Jhile the spring plate 35 yieldingly retains the keys in non-functional position, I

prefer to provide an individual retaining spring40 for each of the keys. Each of the springs 40 consists of a flat strip of spring metal secured to the spring plate 35 by a screw or the like 41, the springs 40 extending in fan shape to the several key positions. The ends of the keys are not connected with the springs 40, but merely abut against the faces thereof and normally ten sion the keys outwardly.

Forming a part of each of the keys is a collar 42 which normally bears against the inner face of the rear housing plate to hold the key the housing against the tension of its individual spring 40.

Rotatably mounted on the winding drum shaft 30 is a stop arm 43, adapted for engagement by either of two pins 44 or 45 on the drum, according to whether the drum is moving to permit the signal to function under tension of the operating spring, or is being reversed to retract the signal and wind the spring under manual operation of the hand wheel.

This mode of operation of the winding drum and stop arm is providedto allow an extended movement of the signal arm relative to the movement of the stop arm, the signal arm being capable of movement through an arc of about 270 degrees from fully housed to fully extended position. while movement of the stop arm is limited to about 90 degrees, the pins 44 and 45 having a corresponding spacing on the winding drum. a f

The end of the stop arm is adapted for engagement with the selected key 36 between the collar 42 and the rear housing plate. 7

Normal position of the keys is that illustrated in 6, in which the collars 42 engage the rearhousing plate so that they will not obstruct travel of the stop arm 43, the point of the arm traveling inside of the key shank 37 when the keys are in nonfunctional position, but engaging the key head of a setkey to limit travel of the stop arm and the corresponding travel of the signal arm to set the signal at the selected position.

To adapt the signal for use at night I provide a lamp 45, 2 and 3, which is mounted on and adapted for rotation with the signal arm, and is adapted for illuminating both the front and rear faces of the arm. The preferred arrangement of'the lamp is that illustrated in Fig. 2, wherein thelamp socket 46 is attached to a reflector 47 which is, in turn, permanently attached to the signal arm by screws or the like 48. the reflector being attached to the innerend of the arm so that it maydirect the light rays outwardly along the face of the signal when the latter is set. i

The lamp bulb 45' extends through a slot 48 in the signal arm so that one face of the iao inseparis connected with the brush and the other with a binding post 53 on the lamp socket,

so that when the signal arm is revolved to:

an operative position, the brush will contact the reflector and close a circuit through the lamp, closed.

The circuit wires 53 a'nd54: leading to the spotlight may run through the same'housing 55 that carries the signallamp, but are preferably controlled from an independent switch (not shown). r

Assuming the parts to be constructed and assembled as described, the operation is as" follows:

Under normal conditions the semaphore arm is concealed within the signal housing, with the operating spring under tension and the arm. locked by engagement of the lug 33 in the socket in the cable winding drum 29. Should the driver of the vehicle upon which the signal is mounted desire to turn to the right, he presses the button marked R on the control box, flexing the spring plate 35 and removing the locking lug from its socket in the winding drum. Immediately upon release of the drum the spring operates-to throw the semaphore arm about its axis, thereby winding the cable on the spring drum and unwinding it from the winding drum. This unwinding movement,

revolves the winding drum, carrying the pin 44: around, causing it to engage the stop arm and carrying the latter forward until the point of the stop arm abuts against the functioned key. The position of the semaphore arm for a right-turn signal is that wherein the arm extends at an upward angle, requiring a throw of the arm to its fullest extent. Thisnecessitates travel of the stop arm past the first two keys which, remaining in non-functional position, do not obstruct the stop arm. After the turn has been made the semaphore arm is returned to the housing by rewinding the cable on the winding drum through the hand wheel 31, the operated key having returned to non-functional position as soon as pressure against it has been removed, so that during return movement of the drum the lug 33 travels in contact with the face of the drum and automatically returns to its locking position in the socket 3 1- when the drum has reached its initial position. Rewinding of the wind ing, drum causes pin 45 to engage the stop providing the main switch is arm 43 and return the arm to initial position so that it may engage a. selected key upon a succeeding OPGI'tLlllOIliOf the signal.

If the turn is to the left the first key, marked L, is operated and the semaphore arm stopped at the downward angle, the operation being the same as that for the righthand turn, except that the travel of the parts is not so great.

The same istrue of the stopisignal, wherein the semaphore arm is extended horizontally.

For either of the operations there is an initial idle movement of the parts relative to the stoparm, and of the brush 50 relative to the reflector 47, the stop arm being picked up and the; lighting circuit closed, however,

before the semaphore arm reaches any of the functional positions, so that the signal may be illuminated and the signal arms stopped in proper position. I W hat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

LA signaling'device comprising a movableindicator -arm, normally; restrained means urging the arm to'a signaling position, and controlling mechanism compris ing a plurality of individually operable devices selectively operable to release the urging means and limit movement thereof to stop the arm at the selected signalling posi tion.

2. A signaling device comprising a movable indicator arm, normally restrained means urging the arm to a signaling position, controlling mechanism. comprising a plurality of individually operable devices selectively operable to release the urging means and limit movement thereof, to stop the arm at the selected signalling position and means for returning and retensioning the indicator arm.

3. A direction signal comprising an indicator arm, a spring drum connected with the arm, controlling mechanism comprising a plurality of individually operable devices including means for actuating the drumto tension the arm to functional position, and

stop members operable individually to re lease the drum and selectively limit movement of the stop arm.

4. A direction signal comprising a rotatable arm, a. spring connected with said arm, a drum connected with said spring, a flexible cable attached to the drum, a winding drum connected with the cable, means for locking the winding drum, and selective keys for releasing the winding drum and limiting movement thereof to determine position of "the indicator arm.

5. A direction signal comprising a rotatable indicator arm, a spring connected with saidarm, a drum connected with said spring, a cable connected with said drum, a winding drum connected with said cable having a stop-engaging portion, a stop mem ber normally urged toco-operative relation with said stop portion, and a plurality of keys adapted for independently actuating the stop member to release the drum, and means operable by thedrum and engageable with a selected stop member to limit movement of the indicator arm.

6. A direction signal comprising. an indicator arm, a normally tensioned spring urging the arm to functionalposition, spring controlling means comprising a cable, a winding drum for the cable, a stop member engaging the drum .to restrain the spring, a plurality of keys, each operableto displace the stop member and release the drum pins on said drum. a stop arm engageable by said pins and movable to engagement with a functionedkey,and means for reversing the winding drum the operating spring. a

' 7. A direction signal comprising a rota.- table indicator arm, a drum attached to said arm, a spring connected with the drum, a cableattached to the drum, a winding drum to retension connected with the cable, means for operating the winding drum to tension said through the slot therein, a spring drum for actuating the arm, control mechanism comprising' a plurality of individually operable keys, a-winding drum, a flexible cable connecting the spring drum andwinding drum, a flexible stop member normally restraining the winding drum-and operable by any of said keys to release the drum, and means for rewinding the winding drum to retension the spring drum and return the signal arm to initial position. 7 y

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature;

GEORGE L. COFFMAN. 

